National Nutcracker Lesson 5

STARTER
In the classroom, watch episode five in class then
ask the following questions:
• What does corps de ballet mean?
• What language does the term corps de
ballet come from?
• What is the professional dance term for the
‘good toes’ Tara refers to?
• Why do you think ballet dancers rehearse
in a room full of mirrors?
• What are the key things you need to
remember? (Look and Listen)
WARM UP
SPIDER’S WEB GAME
Divide the class into groups of seven. Ask each
group to stand in a circle facing inwards. Each
dancer should offer out their right hand into the
middle of the circle and grasp hands with someone
across the circle.
Everyone then holds out their left hand into
the middle of the circle and grasps hands with
someone different. Two people will be left with a
hand free and they can use to their advantage.
CREATIVE EXPLORATION
Devise a unison phrase altogether using existing
material. The children can then take this phrase
into small and large groups and experiment with
different ways of performing it – e.g. slow, fast,
with travel, with jumps.
Watch each other’s phrases. Try learning a phrase
created by another group.
Discuss what sorts of things each member of the
group would need to be aware of in terms of the
dancer’s whole body movements. Consider how
each person needs to be aware of the placement
of every part of their body: feet, legs, arms, hands,
head etc.
Here are a few things to consider when piecing
your dance together:
ORDER
• Try to have a clear beginning, middle and
end – important with your story and your
dance
• You don’t need to perform the dance in the
order that it was created and you can repeat
some sections throughout the piece
The objective now is for each team to untangle
themselves without breaking the chain, so they will
need to climb over and under each other (safely)
and communicate as a team to get themselves
untangled from the spider’s web.